


Like father, like mother, like son

by XaverianQueenChrissy



Series: Family affairs [4]
Category: Free!
Genre: F/M, First Words, Haruka is stressed to hell, Teething, father-son bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-02-23 09:11:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2542133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XaverianQueenChrissy/pseuds/XaverianQueenChrissy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Toraichi is growing fast, and Rin and Haruka come to find just how significant their influences are on him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like father, like mother, like son

**Author's Note:**

> This is a quick little drabble I wrote at the request of rinspookyoka on tumblr

Matsuoka  Rin  was in love, that was something he never bothered to deny even today. Though he spent months at a time in Tokyo training for the Olympics, he took pride in the fact that his shining would be waiting for him to return; with a warm hug and a smile and a story about their son's growth. So,  Rin  was ecstatic when he opened the door to her parent's home, expecting his  fiancee  to leap into his arms with joy.

"Honey, I'm home!" He called out.

Instead of an overjoyed  Haruka , he got an angry slap in the face.

" Ow !" the redhead cried in pain, "what the fuck,  Haru ?"

"Have you seen your son?!"  Haruka  shrieked, pointing to the baby happily eating cut up bananas in his high chair.

Rin  was confused, nothing seemed different except that the seven month old was considerably bigger than when he last saw him.  W hen  Toraichi  saw his father in the doorway, he smiled happily and reached his arms towards him, cooing and gurgling happily. That was when  Rin  saw what was making  Haruka  so angry. He was teething.

And he had  Rin's  teeth.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to breast feed your stupid shark baby?!"  Haruka  cried, "I had to get stitches last week!"

Rin  raised his arms in  defence , "I didn't decide his biological traits! Hell, you think I want teeth like that?!"

Haruka  didn't look well,  Rin  noticed. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt with multiple stains on it, her long dark hair was oily and sticking up in tufts, she wore no makeup and had dark purple bags under her eyes.  Rin  could tell she was overwhelmed, and his surprised face softened.

"You're stressed," he murmured, embracing her tenderly. His words struck a chord deep within her, and she started sobbing into his shirt.

"Do you know how hard it is looking after a teething baby all by yourself? He looks so much like you... Rin , I need you."

Rin  felt his heart ache. He remembered how his mother used to cry for years after his father's death, and he felt guilty for putting his shining in the same position. Gently, he scooped her up bridal style.

"I'm here," he reassured her, carrying her up the stairs and laying her down on the bed, "I'll always be there for you."

" I love you," she murmured sleepily. He pulled the covers up to her chin and tenderly kissed her forehead.

"You rest for today, I'll look after the baby."

Haruka  didn't reply; already fast asleep.

Looking after a baby can't be that hard,  Rin  thought to himself, I mean, what's the worst that could happen?

Decending  into the kitchen, his son remained in his high chair, contently mashing chunks of banana into his dark tuft of hair.  Rin  laughed at the sight.

"Silly boy, you're going to need a bath now."

Toraichi  didn't fuss like most babies did when it came to bath time. He may look like  Rin , but his personality reflects the  Nanases . Filling the basin with water-he was still too young to sit in the actual tub- Rin  gently removed the baby's clothing and plopped him in the  water  before he could pee on him-again. He was perfectly content to splash and play in the  shallow basin, occasionally splashing his father.

"Careful, monkey," he laughed in response to getting water to the face. Gently  running a face cloth over his son's soft, chubby skin,  Rin  did his best to wash the banana off the squirming child.

After he was removed from the basin, dried, and a fresh diaper placed over his bottom,  Toraichi  yawned sleepily in his father's strong arms .  Rin  smiled in awe at his beautiful son, who gazed up at  Rin  with curious eyes.  Rin  was overcome with emotion, and he leaned down to give his son a kiss when-

"OWWWWW!!!!!"

Toraichi  had bit  Rin  on the nose. He grumbled and pulled his son away, realizing the tip of his nose was now bleeding.  Rin's  mother warned him that teething babies were trouble; they put everything in their mouths.  Rin  decided he would need to get a muzzle for the child, who was now giggling at the sight of his father's expression.

"Alright you,"  Rin  laughed, "bedtime!"

Snuggling the child close,  Rin  carried him up the stairs into  Haruka's  parents room-now a makeshift nursery. He lay his son gently in his crib, watching over him tenderly for several minutes.  Toraichi's  big vermillion eyes gazed curiously around the room, as he always did when he was laying in his crib. Today, he was staring at a framed picture of a fish on the wall.

"Sa... ba . Saba."

Wait.  WHAT?!  His son's first word, which he had been looking forward to for so long, was  MACKEREL?!  He could only watch in deadpan shock as the baby began chanting " saba " over and over before gently falling asleep.  Rin  tiptoed out of his son's room and over to his sleeping  fiancee .

"NANASE HARUKA, NAPTIME IS OVER!"

**Author's Note:**

> send me writing prompts at kageyamas-butt.tumblr.com


End file.
